


Karkat's lessons

by KarkatVantabulous



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Cult of the Signless Sufferer, Gamzee Makara and Karkat Vantas Moirallegiance, Sollux Captor/Karkat Vantas moiraillegiance, story of the signless, the peacekeeper - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-28
Packaged: 2018-04-26 19:16:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5017042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarkatVantabulous/pseuds/KarkatVantabulous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat visits Kankri in the dream bubbles expecting hours of tedious lectures, but what he gets instead is the realisation of who he truly is, and what he was destined to do.</p><p>part two of this story is titled "Karkat's Journey" for your convience. Happy reading!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Karkat sighed as he made his way down the seemingly endless stairs to the bottom of this godforesaken meteor. He has spent nearly one entire human year on this rock, and he still wasn't used to all that walking.

He shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants and quickened his pace. If he was late, Kankri would lecture him on how important it was to be on time to any appointement, no matter how seemingly unimportant it may seem. Karkat knew that his dancestor was just trying to help him become a better troll, but couldn't he help in a way that didn't involve Karkat sitting down for several hours wishing for his dancestor to follow in the footsteps of his creepy Makara and sew his mouth shut.

Finally, after a few more minutes of tedious walking, Karkat ended up in the place he wanted-- no, needed to be. He paused for a few minutes, eyes starting to adjust to the pitch black darkness of the room. Once he could see enough, he took a step foreward, slowly and quietly as to not startle who lay ahead of him.

Karkat extended his hand and took another step foreward, his hand now resting on the cool surface of a refrigerator, but not just any refridgerator. Yes, Karkat was standing infront of the kitchen appliance that held his not-so-sane moirail...or the moirail that could've been.

"Hey Gam...you awake...?" Karkat whispered, staying absolutely still as he waited for any sign that the Capricorn was awake. A moment passed and Karkat recieved the honk of a bicycle horn in response. Vriska had stuck one in his mouth so he himself couldn't honk or say much of anything really.

Karkat smiled a little and pressed his forehead against the fridge. Although he'd never admit it and would deny it if it was ever brought up, he greatly missed the purple blooded troll that considered him his best friend. Yes, Karkat knew that Gamzee wasn't exactly himself. Yes, Karkat knew that Gamzee had killed a couple of his friends and would probably kill him as well, but this didn't matter to him for some reason. He had strong pale feelings for this high blood, and has had them for as long as he could remember. He never acted upon them, even after the sweeps of Gamzee pale flirting with him, because Karkat knew something would happen. And look! Something did happen.

The Cancer troll sat down cross legged infront of the fridge as he's done hundreds of times before. You see, Karkat has been secretly visiting Gamzee at least once or twice a night. He would sit there for several hours and just talk. He'd talk about how things were going with the others, about what their plans for the new universe would be, and about how much he missed the miracle loving troll he fell pale for. Karkat knew he shouldn't be doing this, but he really only ever felt comfortable talking about feelings with Gamzee. He knew he had Kanaya or Dave, but with them, it only ever felt awkward and forced. When talking to Gamzee, he could speak freely about every and anything, and Gamzee contributed to this one way feelings jam but honking to let the other know he was listening.

"Okay...great, I just came down here so I could take a little nap. Kankri set up some "Lessons" for me and if i'm late, the bastard's going to lecture me until my ears bleed. But when I wake up, I swear i'll tell you everything that the leggings-wearing asshole told me. Deal?" A honk came from the fridge, letting Karkat know that the deal was accepted. He smiled and curled up on the floor, closing his eyes. "Night Gam." Another honk, and Karkat sighed as he began to drift off to sleep.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Karkat "woke up" in the dream bubbles. He took a minute to check his surroundings, seeing as this was the "main bubble". A majority of the dead trolls had gathered here, not bothering to stay in their respective bubbles. It was odd seeing so many dead versions of himself and his friends, but he wasn't here to stand there and gawk at the dead. No, he had to go visit a version of his ancestor from his own alpha timeline.

He looked around for a second more, seeing a dead version of himself in his godtier snogging a dead Tavros in the white fairy dress Vriska would wear. Okay...yeah that's enough looking around. Karkat left that bubble, leaving his dead godtier self to snog as many brown blooded trolls in fairy dresses as he pleased.

He walked in and out of several bubbles for a few minutes, until he finally reached the one he was looking for. Karkat stopped once he entered that bubble, looking around to make sure it was the correct one. It was.

The short troll frowned, already making up excuses for leaving early, and made his way to the tall hive that Kankri resided in. It wasn't his hive, it was his friends hive. Porrim's to be exact. Kankri wasn't as lucky as Karkat and he never had a hive or a lusus, so Porrim and her Lusus took him in. Karkat always wondered why he had gotten a hive and lusus, and why Kankri hadn't. If it had anything to do with their mutation, Karkat should have of had the same fate as his dancestor. But he didn't, and he never knew why.

Karkat shrugged that thought away and sighed. He raised a fist to the door and reluctantly knocked. Less than a second had passed and Kankri had answered the door. His dancestor stood taller than he, only a couple inches though. His hair was neatly combed unlike Karkat's messy locks that kept falling on his face, and His oversized red turtleneck was neat and clean, not a single wrinkle in sight.

The older Cancer troll smiled warmly at his descendent and stepped back to allow him to enter.

"Karkat, Hello. Thank you for coming on time, being on time is very important you know. It shows that you--" Kankri was cut off mid-sentence by Karkat who strode into the hive, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah yeah, shows that I'm genuinly interested in the other or some shit like that." Karkat plopped down on a giant and soft couch, pulling a nearby pillow closer and hugging it to his chest. Kankri was about to say something on the importance of not cursing when Karkat spoke again. "Let's just get this lesson over with."


	2. The Signless: Part 1

Kankri nodded sat down on the couch as well, after grabbing a fairly large book off his shelf. He set the book down inbetween them before turning to face his descendent. Karkat looked down at the book, tilting his head. He knew everything in these bubbles were purely from memory, so the book must've been just for show, right? Kankri cleared his throat, grabbing Karkat's attention. 

 

"Right, let us begin today's lesson, shall we?" Karkat nodded slowly, already bracing himself for hours of endless lecturing. "Well, I thought it would be good for you to know exactly who you are...in a sense. So, today's lesson is on your ancestor, my pre-scracth self." Karkat groaned and rolled his eyes. 

"Listen Kankri, I already know enough about him. He was a mutant who tried to change the planet's views on the caste system but ultimately died." Kankri sighed but nodded. 

"Yes....that is a very....hm....brief summary of what he did I suppose. But we, or more you, are going to learn a bit more about his life. So, I suggest that you get comfortable, and please do tell me if anything I am about to say triggers you in any way, alright?" Karkat nodded. He didn't really feel like "learning" about his ancestor's shitty life, but if he declined this lesson, he wouldn't hear the end of it. 

Kankri thought for a moment, pondering where he should start his lesson. He tapped his chin and crossed his legs, finally settling on starting at the very beginning. 

"Alright Karkat, as you know, The Signless was born without a Lusus. Due to his...blood color, no lusus would take him in and he would've died as a grub. But, The Dolorosa took him in and raised him to adulthood. Now, for an adult troll to raise a grub was uncalled for, and she had her duties in the caverns with the mothergrub, but she risked it all to allow him life."

"The Signless grew up with The Dolorosa, always moving to new villages so he wouldn't accidentally let his candy red blood be known. As he grew up, he began having visions. Visions of a new world, a peaceful one. Whenever he moved to a new village, he would spread the knowledge of the visions to all that would listen. He spoke with such power and....passion in his words that many trolls followed him to each new village just to hear his sermons. Of those trolls, two of them became very important to him."

"The Psionic, a yellow blooded troll. He was fated to work for the Empress due to his powers that most trolls with his golden blood posessed. He, of course, never wanted that life. He never agreed with the unfair way Highbloods treated Lowbloods, but he could never do anything. But, one day, he heard the passion in The Signless's words as he was passing by one of his sermons. His words had inspired The Psionic to leave the life he was destined to, and decided to follow him and help persuade others to do so as well and change the planet. The two bonded greatly during their time together, and they became the palest of moirails."

"The Disciple, she was The Signless's most dedicated follower. She listened carefully to every word he spoke, whether it was during a sermon or not. She recorded his teachings in a small book, her blood pusher completely devoted to him. Soon enough, his was completely invested in her as well. The two became matesprits, and it was said that their love for each other transcended the quadrants." 

Karkat listened to all of this, making sure to pay full attention to every word his dancestor spoke. Honestly, he was interested in his ancestors history, but he didn't see what any of this had to do who he was. Karkat turned his body, now sitting cross legged on the couch, fully turning the older cancer troll. 

"Right...yeah, Kankri this is all great and shit, but what does this have to do with me?" Karkat questioned, and Kankri smiled warmly. 

"Well, you see Karkat, in The Signless's final moments of life, he was so filled with seething hatred and burning rage for his people. He was so...angry that he was being killed for only trying to heal a broken world, a broken system, that he gave one final sermon. His voice boomed across the streets of the village he was being executed in, his eyes wild and filled with rage and hatred as white hot as the iron shackles that held him."

"The Signless said-- No, he promised of a new troll that would bring peace. He promised that he would gain a descendent that would be succesful in finishing his quest for peace. He promised all of his kind, whether they were his followers or not, that some troll would rise up and bring peace." Karkat's heart stopped, he knew what Kankri was saying. But he had to make sure.

"S-So what the hell does this have to do with me?" Karkat stammered, gripping the pillow tightly.

"Karkat, you are the next Signless."


	3. The Signless: Part 2

Karkat remembered something from his youth. He was two sweeps old, almost turning three, and he was locked up in his respiteblock, crying his eyes out. He cried because he was done. He was done hiding his blood, he was done running from drones, he was done being someone every troll despised.

 

He cried in his block, wishing to be any troll else. He would've rather been his recently culled neighbour than a mutant blooded troll. In all honesty, Karkat would've continued crying if his lusus hadn't shown up with a dead featherbeast in one of his claws. The ginormous crab lusus set the dead animal down before scuttling over to the young troll, this only made Karkat cry even more because he realised his lusus could've had a much better troll to take care of, he could've abandoned him. Hell, crabdad could've taken care of Gamzee instead! But no, his lusus stayed with Karkat, and he loved Karkat dearly. He loved him enough to stay with him for hours as Karkat continued bawling, he loved him enough to remind him that he was a good troll. Crabdad loved Karkat enough to give him a necklace with a small and old piece of iron shaped as his sign attatched to it. Crabdad loved him enough to let Karkat know that he would do great things.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"Oh, no no no no no....." Karkat shook his head, unable to think of anything else to say. Him? The next Signless? "L-Listen Kankri, you MUST have the wrong Mutant blooded fre--"

"Karkat!" Kankri huffed, cutting off Karkat. Of course he would've, Kankri was still very sensitive on the "M" word. Karkat sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Kankri, there's no way in hell that I'm the next Signless. I mean, look at me! Two of my friends got murdered infront of me by one of my best friends, my actual fucking best friend went insane and killed two more of my friends, and I didn't even THINK about Tavros..." Karat looked down as he listed the deaths of his friends that he could've prevented, but didn't. "And...I let JACK into our fucking session! I even fucking housed him for a while on LOPAH. I....I've fucked up way too much to even be remotely close to becoming the next SIgnless."

Kankri listened with a solemn look, he figured Karkat would react this way. The older troll scooted closer to his descendent and laid a gentle hand on his knee, ignoring his "no physical contact" trigger for the sake of comforting Karkat. "Karkat, you are still an excellent leader. You lead your friends to victory in your battle against the Black King. You were thinking on what was best for your friends, that's why you let Jack Noir into your session....although it did backfire on you....but your friends deaths were never your fault. They were bound to kill each other eventually, it's what highbloods do." Kankri smiled softly, hoping this would cheer up the other, and it did, but only a little.

"I...Kankri...how did they even know that The Signless's promise was true? For all they know he could've been some crazy troll spewing a final load of shit before he fucking died."

"Well...they didn't know. But their great leader didn't let them down yet. So, they put their trust in him and prepared for your hatching."

"Prepared for my hatching? What the hell do you mean they 'prepared'?" Karkat questioned, curious on how the ancestors had actually taken time to prepare for his birth of all trolls. Kankri smiled, seeing that he had sparked Karkat's interest and nodded.

"Yes, prepared. Haven't you ever wondered why you had a Lusus and I didn't?" Karkat nodded and sat up straighter, keen on listening to this. "Well, your ancestors took some drastic measures to make sure that you survived after you had hatched. Your blood color would've been a key issue in surviving, seeing as how no lusus would've wanted us. But, before the Dolorosa was taken into slavery, she and Redglare had traveled to caverns to...er..." Kankri thought for a moment, shifting uncomfortably.

"The two of them...set the Signless's slurry and the Disciple's slurry aside for later sweeps, long after they died. They instructed a young troll working in the caverns to give the mothergrub their slurry after a set amount of sweeps so you could be hatched. The Dolorosa, was taken into Slavery by Mindfang and Redlgare continued making sure that you'd be safe. She and some other trolls, it wasn't specified who but I have a sneaking suspicion that it was The Disciple herself and maybe even The Summoner, went to go breed a special kind of lusus, just for you."

"This new breed of Lusus was created to protect you from any and every form of danger. Whether it be drones or whether it be trolls seeking to rid the planet of us."

"I thought you needed a kismesis for that too, not just matesprits? And....i thought drones weren't made back then?" Karkat asked, tilting his head. This was all...very new to him. Very...interesting. It made him see his beloved Lusus in a new light. He knew he was risking everything, he knew being a "special" lusus would pretty much be like signing a death wish.

"They weren't but they were modeled to be near perfect replica's of Dualscar. They made your lusus to be able to fight against Dualscar, so fighting against petty copies of him should've been next to no trouble for him. As for the kismesis....I don't know who's slurry the collected for that. For all we know it could've been The Dolorosa's, or the Psionic's or just a random troll they found and coaxed into donating slurry....or they might not have of even added another amount of slurry to the concoction." Karkat nodded, amazed at all of this. The Ancestors decided to go through all of this trouble just for him...but they were expecting a strong willed leader...they were expecting someone as brave as the Signless. They were expecting a savior, and instead, they got a short angry troll with a surplus amount of knowledge on quadrants and other useless information.

"Another thing, You have a sign and he didn't, hence the name "The Signless" which was later changed to "The Sufferer". Well, once he was dead, and his body was burned down to ashes, the iron shackles that were white hot and burned his wrists became your sign. You see, much like I, the Sufferer replaced the "B's" with sixes and the "O's" with nines. Darkleer made handcuffs with those two numbers to mock him in a way. When he was dead and his body burned, the shackles were left cooling ontop. I'm not sure who thought of it but those cuffs formed in that shape became our symbol, and the actual handcuffs were cut up and made into necklaces of the symbol. Each troll who was part of the Signless's group wore one, especially the Disciple. I believe that your lusus had her necklace and he gave it to you, yes?" Karkat nodded, his hand instantly going to clutch the outline of the cold iron necklace he always wore. He thought it was just some small present his lusus had given him, he never knew it was something that important.

For a moment, the two sat there in silence. Karkat didn't know what to say to all of this. He had to finish off an age old fight for Hemo Equality. He had to become a savior to what seemed to be an entire planet. He had to become something he would've never dreamed to be.

"Ahem...Karkat?" Kankri interrupted the younger's thoughts, causing him to look up. "There's one other thing I should probably mention...as I said earlier, The Signless's final sermon told of a new Signless. And, as I stated, he was quite....angry at the time." Karkat nodded slowly and Kankri continued.

"Well...he said that his descendent would inherit his burdens, such as the blood color. But you also inherited something else....something....unexpected of sorts." Karkat's expression turned from curiosity to confusion.

"What the fuck does that even mean? Something unexpected?" Kankri nodded and cleared his throat. 

"Yes....you see, long before you and your friends were hatched and My friends and I died thanks to a certain sea dweller, Areana and I heard of the Signless's tale. We of course believed it, but there was one part of his story that I never quite believed. It was said that since his final moments he was filled with such hatred and rage that it simply couldn't just...die out when he died. It was said that his anger and hatred for others traveled through paradox space to live on in another, along with the truths behind his teachings. I thought it was all just nonsense and brushed it aside, until of course I met you."

"At first you were pretty quiet when I began lecturing you and such, and I rememberd the "myth" of his negative feelings living on in you and believed them to be truly just myths. Then, I observed the way you behaved with others. The way you spoke with the ghosts of your dead friends, with the ghosts of your dead selves. I saw how truly angry you were at everything, and how you truly hated everyone including yourself. Now I know that it wasn't a myth."

Karkat sat there, appalled at what he just heard. This anger, this hatred he's felt all his life, this wasn't his at all? It was just some "leftover" hate from his ancestor? Great. Just fucking perfect. Karkat sighed, rubbing his eyes a bit. He honestly, had nothing to say about this. How do you even respond to something like that?! 'So I was left with a pre-determined fate AND my shitty anger and hate towards the world isn't even mine?! WOW!'

Kankri noticed Karkat's distress over the whole matter, how else was he supposed to take this anyway?

"Karkat...perhaps we should continue our lesson tomorrow yes?" Karkat nodded slowly as he began to stand up. "Alright, same place and same time if that isn't too much of an inconvienence." Kankri said as he stood up. He glanced over the the book and frowned, they'll just have to wait until tomorrow to crack open that book. Karkat walked to the door, deep in thought.

"Yeah...see you tomorrow Kankri." He was about to walk out when Kankri rested a hand on Karkat's shoulder.

"Karkat, I hope you know that....I didn't say this just to scare you or make you feel bad. I said this so you could see how important you are in this big mess..."

"Dude, i just learned that my entire life I've been getting protection because I'm supposed to be the next fucking troll Jesus. Wouldn't you feel a bit scared that you found out there was a fucking cult made to protect you just so you would end up failing them in the end?"

"Well....I technically was 'troll Jesus' Karkat." Kankri offered a small smile, but Karkat returned it with an eye roll. He shrugged Kankri's hand away and walked out, waving a goodbye to his dancestor.

"Yeah, whatever. See you tomorrow Kankri."


	4. Intermission

Karkat walked quickly through the bubbles, his hands shoved into his pant pockets and his head down. He was lost in thought of the conversation he just had with his dancestor. The Cancer troll was so lost in thought that he didn't see a ghost Sollux and ended up bumping into him. 

"Jesus fuck KK, watch where you're going." The Sollux grumbled, his lisp still very much present. He then helped Karkat, who had fallen flat on his ass, stand up. Karkat merely grunted in reply and dusted himself off. The ghost raised an eyebrow at that, automatically wondering what was bugging this living version of his friend. "KK, you okay? You normally give me some horrible and snarky come back."

Karkat shrugged, staying quiet. What he really wanted to do at the moment was to wake up and go back to Gamzee's fridge and to tell him about the raging shitstorm that was brewing inside of him. Sollux frowned as Karkat began to walk away, the Gemini pulled him back by his wrist. 

"Oh fuck no KK. You're going to tell me what shit's bothering you whether you like it or not." Karkat sighed and after a moment of realizing that Sollux wouldn't change his thinkpan, he nodded. Sollux smirked triumphantly and pulled the shorter troll off to the side, away from the cluster of ghosts. The two sat down at underneath a tree and Sollux turned to Karkat expectantly. "Alright, talk." 

"Why do you want me to talk so badly hm? From what I remembered you and I weren't exactly 'feelsy' with each other." Karkat huffed, crossing his arms. Sollux chuckled and shook his head, leaning back against the tree. 

"Different timelines idiot. In _my_ timeline, you and I have been sickeningly pale since we met." Karkat nodded, he should've guessed as much. He and Sollux were always teetering over into the pale quadrant at times....then again He and Eridan did too...and He and Kanaya. "So, you should probably stop beating around the dead hoofbeast that is this conversation and get straight to the point and start talking." Karkat pulled his knees up to his chest, thinking for a minute. He couldn't really talk to Sollux about this shit, he wasn't exactly _his_ moirail. But then again...Sollux was one of his best friends...and he said he was moirails with his timeline version of himself...so maybe this would work? He would actually be able to have a normal feelings jam with someone who could do more than just honk .

Karkat sighed and rested his chin on his knees as he spoke. He told his dead friend everything Kankri had told him. He told him everything on the Signless, everything about his Lusus, and everything on what he was expected to be. Sollux sat there, listening carefully. This was all new information to him as well, he was fairly certain that his Karkat didn't know any of this, then again it didn't matter seeing as how they were both dead.

"....And that's the shit that's bothering me. Happy?" Karkat asked when he finished retelling every detail. Sollux sat there, not exactly sure how to respond to all of that. He let out a long sigh of air and shrugged. 

"Listen KK, that's a literal plate of shit served up to you on it's fanciest china, I get why it's bothering you. But....fuck....okay think of it this way: If you do suceed in whatever shit you have to do to "bring peace", you'll be considered a legend AND lowbloods wouldn't be treated like shit AND mutants wouldn't get culled on the spot. So that's part of the brightside."

"The other part of the brightside is that that shit might not even happen. I mean, there was TWELVE of us left. In my timeline, we all died on the meteor. I don't know how many trolls are alive in your timeline, but there isn't enough to where there's witch hunts going on and fucking cullings happening. In order to bring "bring peace to the planet" you'd need an _actual fucking planet_." Karkat perked up and nodded, he didn't think of that. There was only a good handful of living trolls, and now that Alternia was long since gone, their unfair caste system didn't matter to them. "Then again....we are supposed to be creating a "new universe" once this bull fuckery is over and done with. Who's to say a "new" Alternia won't appear with a whole new generation of trolls? So, this whole you becoming the Signless 2.0 could happen..." 

The Cancer troll groaned loudly, of course he wouldn't have of been able to get off the figurative hook that easily. Karkat leaned his head back, looking up at the leaves in the tree. So he was pretty much stuck in this shitty fate huh? Figures. He always had a sneaking suspicion that something big would happen to him, whether it was good or bad he didn't know. 

On one hand, Karkat was up for bringing Hemo equality to his planet. He absolutely _hated_ the way lowbloods got treated by highbloods. He _hated_ having to be forced to hide his blood color for so long. He wanted to be something great. He wanted to be known as Karkat Vantas: The troll with the Candy Red blood who had finished the remarkable thing that his Ancestor had started. He wanted to be the troll who _finally_ brought peace to this fucked up world, to this fucked up universe.

On the other hand, Karkat didn't want to disappoint anyone. Karkat had messed up so many times already. He let his friends drop like flies around him, he brought a stab happy psycho into their session, he allowed his best friend to go batshit insane and kill two of his friends, he even ran that stupid ~ATH code that Sollux _told_ him not to run and basically gave everyone he knows or will know shitty luck until he dies.. Hell, Karkat _gave the universe literal cancer_. He didn't want to fail a large sum of trolls who had taken their time to make sure Karkat survived once he hatched, he didn't want to fail those he thought of him as a literal savior. 

Karkat was to them, what the Messiahs were to Gamzee. 

"KK, this shit probably won't happen for a long as time anyway...you shouldn't worry about it now, okay? Do the normal things that you usually do...like cry like a fucking wiggler when you watch your shitty romcoms. Or read you horribly written romance novels. Or try to think you're better than me while you cook up some bad code." Sollux gave his friend a small grin, earning one back from the shorter troll.

"Yeah....you're right...why the fuck am I letting this shit bother me now? I mean, I've barely spent a year on that shitty rock. I have enough time to figure all this shit out." Karkat sat up straighter, clearly looking better than he was before bumping into Sollux. 

Sollux's small grin turned into a smile as he stood up, extending a hand to Karkat. "Of course i'm fucking right. It's me dude, have I ever been wrong? Don't answer that." Karkat took Sollux's hand and smirked a little. 

"Fine, I won't list off the many times you were wrong. But seriously, thanks man. This really helped..." Sollux nodded and the two bade their farewells, exchanging a hug and promising to hang out soon. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Karkat woke up on the floor, infront of the fridge in the same position he was in when he first fell asleep. He yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. God, his back was sore from lying on the hard ground. He stood up and stretched, his back cracking loudly.

"Gam? You still awake?" He asked the fridge, blinking a couple times to regain the focus in hs vision. 

honk.

Karkat sighed before sitting back down infront of the appliance. "Great, well i'm awake as promised. Ready to hear the massive pile of fucking musclebeast shit that Kankri just told me?" 

honk. 

"Right, well...you aren't going to believe this but..."


	5. Intermission 2

"Karkat, dear, you've barely even payed attention to this film, I assumed this one was your favourite?" Kanaya asked, _Fifty First Dates_ playing in the background. 

"No, yeah Kanaya. I'm fine. Just a little distracted is all." Karkat assured her. It wasn't a complete lie, he was distracted after all, but he wasn't exactly fine. Kanaya pursed her lips and ceased her questioning for now, crossing her legs and returning her attention to his husktop's screen. Adam Sandler was trying up different shenanigans to grasp the attention of the girl who had short term memory loss. 

Kanaya stayed quiet for a moment, it was pretty obvious that Karkat _wasn't_ fine, and she wanted to know what was going on in that peculiar think pan of his. She smoothed out her skirt and turned to him once again, turning on her motherly charm and resting a hand on Karkat's shoulder. 

"Karkat, you know you can come talk to me about anything, right?" Karkat nodded, not really believing that in all honesty. He loved Kanaya, he really did. In many ways their relationship was much like The Dolorosa and The Signless's. She was caring, kind, strong, protective, loving, and well mannered. She fit the description of what Dave would call a "perfect mom". But there were certain things that Karkat couldn't and wouldn't talk to her about. For one, he'd never in his right mind tell her he's been sneaking around to visit the bloodthirsty clown locked up in a fridge at the bottom of the meteor. She'd never stand for that. She knows that Gamzee was an important part of Karkat's life, but she also knew that Gamzee would probably kill Karkat on sight, and she didn't want that. 

"Well....if you know that...then you should tell me what's bothering you so, I don't necessairly enjoy seeing someone so dear to me not strutting around loudly insulting the others and defending the honor of his most favourite films." 

"I don't strut, Kanaya." The Jade blood smiled warmly and nodded. 

"Yes, of course. How dare I? Of course you don't strut, that is more Dave's thing. You, Karkat, You more scuttle about the meteor. Forgive my mistake." This made Karkat smile, he normally hated those little crab jokes, but they were always enjoyable when Kanaya was the one telling them in effort to help him cheer up. "Ah, yes. There's your very rare smile. So nice to see it once more. You really should smile more often, it's a very nice smile, dear." 

"All the more reason to keep this shit rare. The less I smile, the more special it'll become." Kanaya chuckled and shook her head slightly, patting Karkat's knee.

"I will never understand your logic." 

"You don't have to understand it, just accept it," Kanaya nodded and Karkat looked down at his feet once again. "Listen Kanaya, you don't have to worry about me....I can take care of myself, okay? I'm not some fucking grub left out on some trolls lawnring."

"Yes Karkat, I realise that you aren't a grub, but in many ways you act like one. For one, you tend to get very emotional very quickly and you do tend throw tantrums or how you call them "shit fits". Besides, you know my kind tend to have Lusus-like personailties. It is only normal that I have grown accustomed to treating you as if you were my grub more often than treating you like one of my best friends."

"Don't get me wrong, I love the special treatment and shit, it's nice, but it takes away from my manly aura. I can't charge into battle and fucking destroy those sons of bitches only to have my mom waltz on over to clean the blood off my cheek and scold me on how sloppy my slashes were." Hearing this made Kanaya smile. She moved closer and wrapped his long thin arms around Karkat, pulling him into a tight hug. Karkat, of course, hugged his mother-figure back.

"Karkat, please tell me what is wrong....if you ever feel comfortable doing so. Perhaps I can guess on what's troubling you?"

"I highly doubt you can but sure, why the fuck not?"

Kanaya pulled away from the hug, and thought for a moment. She tapped her chin with the tip of her finger, perfectly trimmed eyebrows furrowing together in concentration. "Hm...well....are you thinking about our deceased friends again?" Karkat shook his head. He wasn't thinking about them, but he was now. "Right well....has Vriska been bothering you again? Would you like me to interfere?"

"No, Vriska isn't doing shit, okay? No need to meddle in something that doesn't need meddling." Kanaya nodded and thought some more. 

"Hm....Is there some tension between you and Rose? I know I've been spending an abundant amount of time with her, and you may be feeling a little neglected. And we all know how you get when you start feeling neglected. Like that one time when Eridan was still living, he didn't talk to you for a couple days and you--"

Karkat cut her off, he really didn't want to relive old times, especially not something as _embarassing_ as _that_. "No! No tension between Rose and I! Everything's fine, i'm not feeling neglected at all." 

"Alright....well....is it Dave? Have you and He gotten anywhere in wondering which quadrant you two are in?" Karkat groaned and shook his head. He had completely forgotten about Dave. 

"No, Dave and I haven't fucking figured out which quadrant we're in....but this isn't about Dave, or quadrants or anyone! This is just....nothing. It's nothing really....like Sollux said, I have a while to figure things out...I don't need to stress myself out now." Kanaya raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly. 

"I'm assuming you conversed with a ghost version of Sollux on the matter?" Karkat nodded. "Alright....well, it is getting late, and you have to keep up with your sleep scheduale. Come now." Kanaya stood and shut off the husktop. Karkat sighed and stood up, yawning a little. Kanaya had given him a "bedtime" since she learned that he got next to no sleep. 

The two walked to the transportilizer, Kanaya pulling her skirt up to her ankles and took a gracious step on, while karkat jumped up and onto the platform. A second later, the two were transported into the computer lab. They walked out the lab and into a hallway. Kanaya said her goodnight and kissed Karkat's cheek, leaving a mark of her jade lipstick before she headed down the hall and into the respiteblock that she and Rose shared.

Karkat stood there in the hallway for a moment, pondering his next move. Should he just go to his block and fall asleep? Should he visit Gamzee once more? Should he stay up and risk getting caught by Kanaya and get scolded? 

He did none of those, instead Karkat walked down the hall, passing his respiteblock and headed straight towards Eridan's old block. Yes, Eridan's block. Eridan had books on their ancestors, both written _by them_ and _about_ them. Maybe he could get some more in-depth details on their ancestors from the books he had. 

Karkat pushed the door open, and stepped in. The smell of sea water was faint, but still there. His bookshelves and treasure chests were all covered in dust. In the center of the room, Ahab's Crosshairs was lying there, broke. As was his wand. Besides those was both his cape and scarf. 

It was kind of depressing being in here, in one of his best friend's block, he had witnessed Eridan kill Feferi and Kanaya, and knock out Sollux. He'd told the sea dweller that he was dead to him, he even broke off their pact. But in reality, he only blamed himself for not helping the violet blood out of his murderous mood. 

He and Eridan were close, close to the point where he acted like a moirail to him. Close to the point where he'd listen to Eridan's rambles about land dwellers and his plans on their utter destruction, Karkat would even half-heartedly give him pointers!

Karkat coughed as dust flew infront of his face when he pulled out a heavy book. He wiped some more dust off the cover before plopping down in the corner. This wasn't exactly the most comfortable position or spot to read, but he had to read somewhere. He opened up the book, sighing quietly. 

"Eridan..." Karkat mumbled to himself as he began reading the first page, "I sure as fuck hope that all that shitty gloating about having the most detailed books around wasn't _just_ gloating."


	6. The Peacekeeper: Part One

"Let's get started, shall we?" Kankri asked, once again pulling the book same book from his shelf and setting it down between the two trolls.

Kankri rubbed his eyes and nodded. He had stayed up most of the night reading every book Eridan had on their Ancestors (and maybe he had read some troll Harry Potter). He barely kept his eyes open as Dave retold him of some odd dream he had involving some giant metal go machines he called cars and some sort of spicy snack called Hot Cheetos. Karkat had to excuse himself in the middle of Dave's story to head down to Gamzee's fridge to curl up and take a nice long nap and to get his next "lesson" from Kankri. 

He had tried to hide his tired eyes from Kanaya's motherly glare, but ultimately failed. She stopped him and was about ready to scold him when Rose came to the rescue. All the Seer of Light had to do was ask for help mending a torn article of clothing and Kanaya instantly agreed. The two walked away, and Rose turned back to give him a little wink before they disappeared behind a corner. 

"Yeah...Yeah let's continue...are you going to tell me more shit on The Signless?" Karkat questioned, stretching himself out on the couch while still giving his dancestor enough space to sit down comfortably. 

"No, actually. I'm finished telling you about your ancestor. Today we'll be talking about my ancestor." Kankri's ancestor? Karkat curiously looked up at him, this certainly was going to be interesting. 

"Your ancestor? Holy shit...this is going to be interesting." Kankri nodded, pulling the book into his lap. 

"Yes, interesting indeed. Now, I suppose I should start at the beginning?" Karkat nodded eagerly, causing Kankri to smile. He cleared his throat and crossed his legs, getting comfortable. 

"Alright well, for one, My ancestor didn't have a Lusus. He was raised by a kind limeblood, who remained nameless throughout his lifetime. He was raised by this limeblood until he was three sweeps old, unfortunatly the limeblood was culled. He roamed the streets of his village for a while until a young blue blooded troll, Horuss's ancestor, stumbled aross him. The young blue blood took him to his hive, only planning on only giving him food an shelter for a day or two, then he'd be on his way. But what was supposed to be a couple days, turned into a couple perigees. A couple perigees, a couple sweeps. The two trolls grew incredibly close, and soon enough, they became moirails. My Ancestor lived with his moirail and his lusus in their shared hive and grew up together."

"Now, they both shared a dream to work closely with the Empress, Her Imperial Radiance, and their dreams came true. The blue blood worked for her, he was a sort of blacksmith. He created her army's weapons and his work was extraordinary. Karkat, on the other hand, wasn't immediatly enlisted to help Her Imerial Radiance. At first he was just a lowly guard. The highest job he was assigned was to watch over the Empress's royal parties, but that one job was the greatest thing that ever happened to him. He was just wandering about the room, doing his job. He didn't _mean_ to do this, he didn't exactly know _why_ he did it either. But he did do it, and the actions he did do had opened up a new world to him, a new _life_."

"Are you going to actually tell me at some point what he did or are we just going to skip over that crucial piece of information?" Karkat asked, slightly annoyed.

"Well...no one knows exactly what happened that day. The story changes. Some say he tripped a waitor on purpose, causing him to spill the poisoned drink that was meant for the Empress, others say that he saw through the clever isduise of an enemy troll in their attempt to kill her, and ended up killing them instead. Either way, that day he became The Empress's personal and loyal knight. He protected her with his life, and was nearly always by her side. He was branded and given a title. His title was "The Peacekeeper" because he was the one who had restored and kept the peace on their planet."

"The Peacekeeper did many great things in his lifetime, one being that he brought a stop to an entire war, and the other being that no matter what, he made sure the Empress wasn't harmed. Now, the Empress, Meenah's ancestor, was a very kind troll, she cared for all bloods and didn't believe in the silly caste system. She represented peace between land and sea dwellers and she ensured the safety of all trolls, but of course, a set of trolls despised this idea and immediatly gathered other's to begin a war for chaos. The two sides fought long and hard, but in the end, The Peacekeeper put a stop to their reign of terror, and restored the peace." 

Karkat listened, fully engrossed in the story. Had his pre-scratch self really done all that? Did he really save an entire planet from the evil hold of two trolls that had an army? All these questions and then some buzzed around his think pan, until finally he asked one.

"What were the names of the two trolls that started the 'war for chaos'?" Karkat asked, sitting up. Kankri frowned and thought for a moment, trying to think of a way to reveal the identities of the two trolls.

"Well Karkat..." Kankri began, still fumbling with the words in hs pan. "You must remember...it was a completely different timeline.."

"Yeah, i get it, just spit it out." Karkat demanded, now even more curious than ever.

"Well...these two trolls were matesprits...their names were Gamzee Makara and Vriska Serket."


	7. Chapter 7

Karkat could honestly say he wasn't surprised that it was those two, he should of actually expected it. What with Gamzee's recent murderous outburst and Vriska's long history of being well....a bitch. Even though he wasn't necessarily surprised at this, Karkat's eyes still widened slightly in shock.

"Gam and Vriska...?" Karkat asked quietly, Kankri nodding his head in response. Karkat left out a long sigh, running a hand through his hair, he didn't really know what to think. "Alright....continue." Kankri nodded, still looking at his descendent with a slight worried look, but he continued.

"Right, well as I mentioned, they were Matesprits. The two were extremely dangerous, and extremely violent. Gamzee was so horrible, that no name could capture his violent nature, so they merely referred to him as "The Purple Blood". Vriska on the other hand, wasn't as murderous as her matesprit. She would..."persuade" trolls to join their cause. But of course, no troll in their right mind would ever dream of joining them in creating a world that lowbloods were treated unfairly. So, instead of actually attempting to motivate them into joining their armies, Vriska would use her mind powers to force them in. She was called "The Persuader", I always thought of that as some sort of sick joke on her part, but we will never know."

"They commanded several large armies, a vast majority of their soldiers were there against their will, and would always attack her Empire. Now, I must say, their methods of attacking was quite sloppy, they mainly ambushed whatever area they believed was the weakest. I could honestly go on and on about how horribly executed their attacks were but that wouldn't make them any less gruesome, because many many trolls did perish during those attacks. Oh my, I'm getting off topic aren't I?" Karkat rolled his eyes at how easily off track Kankri got. Kankri cleared his throat, looking a bit embarrassed. "Er...pardon me...back to the Peacekeeper."

"Now, the Peacekeeper did work for Her Imperial Radiance, but he also did work for her matesprit on the sidelines. Her matesprit was referred to as "The Warlorde", he was Cronus's ancestor. The Warlorde wanted peace as much as the Empress and the Peacekeeper, but he had a hard time trying to...keep his methods of keeping peace well...peaceful. The Warlorde forced The Peacekeeper to....hm...well execute those he thought were guilty of betraying the Empress. Of those trolls he had to execute were his moirail and matesprit."

"Wait wait wait...matesprit? I-- uh...he, had a matesprit?" Kankri nodded. Karkat raised an eyebrow, curious as to which of the trolls had been his pre-scratch self's matesprit. "Who was it? Why were they executed?"

"He was called "The Architect." He created the Empress's Hive. It was beautiful to every last detail. From the mass aquarium he had built for her to freely and safely swim into her large throne room, even to respiteblock that The Empress's second care-taker spent her free time in. He was executed because it was rumoured that he was building secret hideouts for the Purple Blood and his matesprit to hide in as they planned their next attack. His moirail was executed for being rumoured to have of been making and selling weapons to them. Neither of these accusations were ever proven to be true or not."

"Well....that's fucking stupid. Why kill some troll under false fucking accusations? That's just....really fucking stupid. And his _matesprit_ and _moirail_? Who the fuck makes some poor troll-- especially one that protects the goddamn empress with his _life_ \--kill the two closest trolls to him?" Karkat huffed angrily, crossing his arms. He was angry and it wasn't even _his_ life or _his_ moirail or _his_ matesprit that had been killed. Or worse, that _he_ had to kill. "Who was his fucking matesprit anyway? Tavros?" The older troll shook his head.

"No, Tavros Nitram was a troll The Peacekeeper had trained to take his place as the general of the Empress's army...did I forget to mention that? Pardon me, The Peacekeeper not only protected the Empress, but he also had to fight in certain battles because he was the general of her army, an excellent on at that. But of course training an army, fighting in battles, hunting down those two menaces, and protecting the empress had become a bit too much for him. So, training Tavros to replace him was a good way to take off some of that stress. Tavros even later received his own title, he was called "The Cavalier". Anyway, no. It was not Tavros, though it was rumoured that the Nitram did have a flush crush on The Peacekeeper, but it was also never really proven. It was Sollux Captor. His Psionic abilities made it easy to quickly build the Empress's many structures."

"The Architect and The Peacekeeper were horn of heels red for each other. Dare I say, their love may have of transcended the quadrants as well." Kankri sighed, sliding a hand over the cover of the book, smiling fondly. "I remember reading and re-reading the journal of the Architect...I remember being completely intoxicated with the stories of their love. It's funny....he began his journal the day he met the Peacekeeper...and the journal ended the day he was executed by his matesprit. I always thought that it was ironic...I also thought it was some way of showing us that his life never really started until, and I quote, _'That strong and dangerous, yet warm hearted candy blood appeared.'_ "

"But...bad things happen to good trolls, and The Architect died. Now, The Peacekeeper would've fought for his matesprit, he would've torn The Warlorde apart for even thinking of such a heinous idea, but he was in a bit of a predicament. The Peacekeeper already had a matesprit, as far as The Wardlorde knew. But it wasn't Sollux. The Peacekeeper absolutely hated executing innocent trolls. He hated it so much that he went as far as claiming a fake matesprit to spare the troll's life. He claimed a young teal blood, Terezi Pyrope, as his matesprit and The Warlorde set her free. If The Peacekeeper said that The Architect was his actual matesprit, he would've been charged for lying to an official. He, Terezi, and Sollux would've all been culled. So, he had no other choice but to kill his reddest of loves...and live the rest of his days with a troll he had only pretended to be flushed for."

Karkat sat there in awe. This was like some sort of sick and twisted romance novel, though it was much worse since this things did happen. His head swam with this new information, trying to comprehend what was just explained to him. Sollux was his matesprit, Equius his moirail, Terezi his fake matesprit, Tavros had a flush crush on him, and he had to kill Sollux and Equius. This was....this was just too much for the young troll.

"H-Holy shit..." This was all Karkat had to say to all of this. Kankri chuckled and patted Karkat's knee.

"Save your curses for the end of the lessons, please. Thank you." End of the lessons? There was _more_? Karkat groaned and ran a hand through his hair, he wasn't really sure he would be able to handle all this new information. It was all so...so... _unbelievable_. His pre-scratch self had gone through so much, and there was still _more_? Karkat was hungry for more information on The Peacekeeper's life, but he was just having trouble digesting the big "I hate you" sundae with a nice, red "fuck you" cherry ontop that the universe had served Kankri's ancestor.

"How much more of this lesson is there?" Karkat asked, looking up at his dancestor.

"Not much" Kankri replied calmly. "Now, onto the next half of The Peacekeeper's life."


	8. The Peacekeeper: Part Three

"Even though The Peacekeeper was adored by the residents of Beforus, and by The Empress herself, doesn't mean he recieved royal treatment." Kankri began, sitting back down after a quick stretch. "He was sadly, rarely allowed to eat or rest, that wasn't the Empress's rule, no. Her Imperial Radiance would've showered him in food if she found out he ate small meals every few days, or she would've let him go back to his hive if she found out that he hardly slept when he was on duty. The Warlorde made sure The Empress never knew of these things since he was the one restricting these basic necessities. He never thought badly of the lack of food or rest my ancestor had, he was just trying to take extra precautions in ensuring the Empress's safety, though this does not justify his actions."

"The Royal treatment that my ancestor did receive was from when he would return to the Empress from a battle, too wounded to be able to do his work. The Empress would immediately ask her caretaker to patch up his wounds and see that he returned to his hive safely so he would rest. Those times, and times when his matesprit and moirail were alive did he "deserve" royal like treatment."

Karkat nodded, feeling sick to his stomach.This was just too fucked up. Kankri's ancestor, was basically deprived of food and sleep even though he was doing an excellent job of keeping their Empress alive? Kankri frowned, seeing the disgust in his descendents face. He had to admit, the story of The Peacekeeper wasn't the prettiest....but it surely was interesting.

"Now, this book has several pictures of paintings found of the Peacekeeper and several other trolls. Now, before we look at them, I must warn of you several things. Some of these might be triggering to you." Karkat rolled his eyes and nodded. "Excellent, for one there's a picture of him shirtless to show off the scars and brands. Oh, there's a heavy amount of scarring and branding done to his body. and, some of the images about to be shown are slightly...gory. Are any of the things i just said triggering in any way to you?" Kankri questioned, receiving a shake of the head from Karkat. "Alright then, let's take a look, shall we?"

Kankri slid his thumb underneath the cover of the book and flipped it open. He thumbed through the pages until he found the page he was searching for. Karkat peeked over to examine the page he had stopped on, looking at picture of his pre-scratch self.

One full page, that's how much space the picture took. One full page of showing the horror show that was The Peacekeeper's upper body. His left upper arm had two brands on it, Feferi's and Eridan's. His upper right arm had his own sign burned on, along with the word "Peacekeeper" underneath. On his right hip, just above his pants line was Equius's sign branded onto his grey flesh, and Sollux's sign was burned onto his leftmost area of his chest. Just underneath Sollux's sign, there was some sort of face carved on. Karkat leaned in, squinting to get a better view of the face, gasping when he realised what it was. Carved onto his chest was the cute little face Gamzee always made, the one he had tried to make Karkat type out every chance he got. On his chest, the ":o)" face was carved on.

Karkat grimaced, looking at it a second longer before he tore his eyes away, looking at the other scars. Most of them were scars were typical slashes or stabs, a couple burn marks or bruises. There were a couple unusual looking ones, but the one that stood out was a giant scar on his left side. It looked as if someone had taken a giant bite out of him, was disappointed with what he tasted like, and slashed him up.

"That," Kankri said, pointing at the enormous scar, "was given to him by the Purple Blood. The raging highblood bit him and proceeded to scratch him with his claws when the Peacekeeper attempted to escape his grasp. That fight was also the one where The Peacekeeper killed the Purple Blood. This one," Kankri moved his finger to the little carved face, "Was one given to him by the Persuader after she captured and tortured him after he killed her matesprit. Soon enough though, he managed to kill her, and she soon joined her matesprit."

"What about the brands?" Karkat asked curiously.

"Well, These two." Kankri pointed at the sea dwellers' signs. "Having the Warlorde's sign showed that that troll worked for the Empress, but not really for her like he did...this was more like...a soldier's brand or a lowly guard's. Having the Empress's sign meant that you actually worked for her, like he did. Not many trolls had her sign and it was considered a great honor. Your own sign branded onto your skin meant that you had earned a title. And...these two..." Kankri's finger slid between the Gemini and the Sagittarius's signs. "These two were more tributes of his deceased quadrants."

Karkat nodded, staring at all the different scars and brands and such. He was amazed at the things his pre-scratch self had gone through. He was also disgusted at how he was treated and what he was forced to do. Karkat also admired his pre-scratch self, he had gone through hell and back and he was still standing. Well he wasn't technically standing now, but back then he was.

Karkat studied his face. He had Karkat's usual glare and a look in his eyes that said he'd kill any and everyone that stood in his path. But there was also a certain....kindness in his features. Sure his shoulders were broad and scars intimidating, but he looked like the kind of troll that someone could talk about their feelings with. That made Karkat happy, because that was who he was. He was an angry and spiteful little mutated troll that screeched every word he said, but he was also a kind and incredibly caring troll, he had tried his best to make every one of his friends happy.

"Karkat." Kankri spoke, pulling the younger cancer troll out of his thoughts. He tore his eyes away from the picture to look at his dancestor. "I know you might have many questions.." Karkat blinked, nodding a bit. Questions upon questions popped up in his pan.

_Who was Kanaya here? What about Aradia? Nepeta? Did he have to execute any more trolls? When did he die? How did he die?_

"Well, i think it would be better for you to find those answers yourself. I'm allowing you to _borrow_ this book and another so you can read and learn about him and the other ancestors."

"Will that even fucking work? I mean, these books are _memories_." Kankri shrugged, standing up and moving to his bookshelf, grabbing a smaller book and walking back.

"If you put them in your sylladex, they may make it to the real world with you, and if not, you're welcome to come back and read them whenever you'd like to." Karkat nodded and stood up, stretching a bit.

"Alright Kankri...thanks for the lessons and shit. This was actually not as pan numbingly boring as I expected it to be."

"Ah...thank you...I suppose..." Kankri gave Karkat a small smile, and this time, Karkat returned it. The Cancer troll put both books in his sylladex and bade his farewells.

If this worked, and the books stayed the way they were here out on the meteor, he wouldn't come out of his block for days. He'd end up worrying his friends. He'd probably end up getting scolded by Kanaya. But, he'd also learn more on The Peacekeeper. And at the moment, that's all he was worried about.


	9. The Next Signless

Three days. That's how long's Karkat's been at the bottom of the meteor, how long he's been huddled next to Gamzee's fridge, reading and re-reading both of the books his dancestor had lent him. He examined each and every one of the pictures in the book, seeing Sollux stand tall and proud, wearing a visor to match his bi-colored eyes, his wardrobe light and comfortable a beautiful golden color. He saw Equius, still muscular, with a soft and welcoming expression on his face, his eyes covered by goggles.

He saw Feferi, in her royal attire. Long, dark hair pulled into a neat and tight braid that hung loosely on her right shoulder. She wore a long white dress, with a golden belt around her waist, matching her golden anklets, bracelets, necklaces and crown. She held her trident which was decorated in fuchsia rings. Her expression was kind and loving, her eyes half lidded and a small smile on her face.

He saw a picture of Nepeta, she wore animal skins and battle attire. She looked dangerous, the claws on her gloves out as she stood in a protective hunched position, she looked just about ready to tear anyone's face off. Kanaya stood in her picture with open arms, a warm and gentle smile on her face. Her clothing was humble, nothing more than a plain jade dress with a cloak to cover it. Tavros wore armor, his shoulders squared up and he looked a little intimidating. In one hand he held his lance, in the other he had his fist raised up, and Karkat noticed his own sign branded onto his forearm.

Terezi looked frightened in hers, she kept herself closed up. Arms tucked into her sides, one clutching the side of shirt, he legs seemed nearly stiff. She looked up into the unknown, scared. Aradia looked wicked. Her hands were turned into fists at her sides and her legs were slightly spread, a sneer on her face. Eridan looked uptight in his respective picture, he wore fancy gold and purple clothing with a monocle on his eye, his hair slicked back and the purple strip on the front part was still present. He had the face of an upset librarian as he glared up at whoever painted him at the time.

Karkat saw Gamzee and Vriska's picture. Gamzee stood tall, a giant spiked club hanging loosely on his shoulder. His hair was giant and wild, specks of different colored blood in it and his clown based attire. His eyes were wide and crazy as his mouth was curled up into a snarl to bare his sharp teeth. Vriska stood beside him. Her face showed more of a mischievous expression. On hand was resting on her clean sword, the other was on her hip.

Karkat didn't know what to think of all of this. For days his head swirled with this information. He sat by Gamzee's fridge, reading aloud and describing the pictures in immense detail. He took small naps and visited the Sollux that had helped him before and spoke to him about these amazing new discoveries. He was truly amazed at what his Beforus self had accomplished. He had put an end to a major war, he had helped keep the peace to a planet, he protected the Empress, he trained soldiers, and he gave Terezi a job with the Empress on the best ways to maintain peace on their planet.

Although this was all amazing, Karkat still wondered what would become of him. What _would_ happen when he would supposedly become the next Signless? Would the others follow him? Support him? _Believe_ him? Go _against_ him? _Cull_ him? Would they think it was just him finally losing his mind and think nothing of it?

These thoughts swirled in his mind constantly, making him slightly dizzy. Would anyone even want to follow him? Let alone want to believe him? Would they assume this was just some crazy plan that Karkat cooked up in order to clear his subconscious for allowing the deaths of their friends? Karkat didn't know where to begin with all these possibilities. He pondered each and every single one while he re-read the books, when suddenly an idea came to mind.

Karkat closed his book, he had just finished finished re-reading The Architect's journals once again, his head rested against the cool door of the fridge behind him. He sighed and thought about his "fate" once more, when an idea struck him. It was so....so _simple_ , and that's what made it perfect. The Cancer troll stood up and replaced the books into his sylladex.

"Hey Gam, I'll be back soon....I'm going to tell them.' Karkat murmured, stretching a little.

_honk._

"Alright, wish me luck and later....best friend."

_honk._

With that, Karkat quickly ran up the stairs to the second floor, hopping onto the nearest transportalizer and ending up in the computer lab. The lab was completely empty, not a single troll or human in sight. The red blooded troll hopped off the platform and headed down into the hall.

He stopped in front of Kanaya's door, and grabbed the doorknob, not opening the door just yet. If he went in there, he would most likely be greeted with an upset rainbow drinker who would scold him for worrying her and the others and demand what he was doing. But then again, Karkat desperately needed to do this. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open and stepping into Kanaya's respiteblock.

Her block wasn't necessarily neat, different colored articles of clothing littered the floor and a giant pillow pile was in the corner. Kanaya herself was sitting on one of those absurd human resting platforms, or a bed as they called it, she was stitching up a hole in one of Karkat's sweaters. She looked up and smiled, but that smile soon turned into a glare as she stood up and walked over to him, clearly upset.

"Listen Kanaya, we don't have time for your overpowering lusus like tendencies at the moment, we have shit to get done." Karkat said, he sounded more confident than he actually was. "I want you to gather everyone into library in ten minutes, it's extremely important."

"What? Karkat, what's going on? Are you alright? Did that _fucking_ clown escape? Are you hurt? Where have you be--" Karkat held up his hand, stopping Kanaya's shower of questions.

"I'll explain later, just get everyone to meet me in the library in fifteen minutes, got it?" Karkat didn't stay long enough to get an answer from her, he was pushing her out her door before zooming down the hall once more. He ran into Eridan's room, instantly going back to the shelf and pulling out large and heavy books and looking through them to make sure they were the correct ones, he had to make sure he had absolutely everything he needed for his plan.

He put those books into his sylladex as well and walked back into the empty computer lab thirteen minutes later, standing in front of the transportalizer. This was it, he was just seconds away from possibly being classified by as his friends as either A) crazy or B) an actual savior.

His palms began to sweat, and he wiped off that sweat on his pants. He'd be fine...his plan was perfect. Just explain to them what Kankri had told him, but he on the other hand, was going to keep it short and sweet. He took a deep breath and stepped onto the platform appearing in the library a moment later.

Kanaya had done her job, and everyone was infact waiting for him, all sitting either on or around the couch.

"Well, Karkat, I have gathered everyone here. Now what is so important?" Kanaya questioned, crossing her legs and smoothing out her skirt with one hand as the other hand held onto to Rose's hand.

"Are we all here to have some sort of weird meteor party?" Dave asked, looking over at karkat and stretching out on the couch next to Kanaya, "Cause if we are, i'm totally down to be the DJ, kitkat. Just say the word and the beat will drop faster than your pants when you see Troll Will Smith." Everyone laughed at Dave's comment, as well as making some of their own, but Karkat didn't care.

He looked at all of his friends, sighing. Rose and Kanaya, holding hands, they were so happy, so flushed. Dave, their time together on this meteor was confusing to the both of them, they didn't know which quadrant their relationship was lying in. Terezi and Vriska were laughing together, Terezi leaning on Vriska a little, the two became very close moirails very quickly. These were his friends, surely they'd believe him. They wouldn't call him a liar, they wouldn't call him crazy.

Karkat knew, at that time, that no matter how insane what he was about to say may seem, his friends wouldn't dare cull him or label him as crazy. He knew that the way he now knew who he was.

"No, Dave. It isn't that. There's something I need to discuss with all of you, so get the shit out of your sponge clots and listen up when your leader's talking." The others quieted down and looked at him, waiting for him to speak again. Karkat took in a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second before he opened them and stood up straighter, he stood up with more confidence.

"I'm Karkat Vantas, I'm a mutant with candy red blood. My Ancestor died trying to bring peace to our corrupted ways, and i'll finish what he started. I'm Karkat Vantas, and I'm the next Signless."


End file.
